Isn’t it the beauty of love that sets us free?
“Love is one, and love is changeless.
For love loves unto purity. Love has ever in view the absolute loveliness of that which it beholds. Where loveliness is incomplete, and love cannot love its fill of loving, it spends itself to make more lovely, that it may love more; it strives for perfection, even that itself may be perfected—not in itself, but in the object. As it was love that first created humanity, so even human love, in proportion to its divinity, will go on creating the beautiful for its own outpouring. There is nothing eternal but that which loves and can be loved, and love is ever climbing towards the consummation when such shall be the universe, imperishable, divine.
Therefore all that is not beautiful in the beloved, all that comes between and is not of love’s kind, must be destroyed.
And our God is a consuming fire.” (George MacDonald (1824-1905), taken from Unspoken Sermons )
No one can resist God’s love forever. He will destroy everything that interferes with perfect love and perfect joy. Love will make everything lovely.1
"When my child would serve me," he went on," he spies out some need I have, springs from his seat at my knee, finds that which will meet my necessity, and is my eager, happy servant, of consequence in his own eyes inasmuch as he has done something for his father. His seat by my knee is love, delight, well-being, peace—not service, however pleasing in my eyes.—'Why do you seat yourself at my knee, my son?' 'To please you, father.' 'Nay then, my son! go from me, and come again when it shall be to please thyself.'—'Why do you cling to my chair, my daughter? 'Because I want to be near you, father. It makes me so happy!' 'Come nearer still—come to my bosom, my child, and be yet happier.' (Taken from Thomas Wingfold, Curate by George MacDonald)
It’s impossible to see how good God is and not love him.
There is no greater joy, there is no higher form of self-service2, than trusting and obeying Jesus.3
1. If you are not sure if God is capable of winning all hearts, if you think he might not be able to rescue all people from sin—but you hope he can—read The Inescapable Love of God by Thomas Talbott. A book description and reviews can be found on amazon (see here).
2. Why self service?
“The love of our neighbour is the only door out of the dungeon of self.” ~ George MacDonald
How a person makes me feel and how I feel towards them are two different things. I cannot change how a person makes me feel. And I cannot make myself feel love towards them. But if I have ill feelings towards them, I can admit that to myself and then ask God to help me treat them the way he wants me to treat them. When I do this God helps me to become a better person. (God accepts us even though he does not approve of everything we do. I’m sure he hates the way we sometimes treat others. God wants us to love as he loves. He wants us to love unconditionally. See What is the Gospel?)
3. Children, particularly small children, seek friendship above all else. We must learn to become like little children, valuing and seeking that which is truly good. (Intimacy is developed through trust.) According to Jesus, the only way to become more intimate with the only one who is worthy of our absolute trust, is to trust and obey him—the sinless one. (Whenever we trust someone who is trustworthy, our trust grows. We exercise and increase our trust in God every time we try to obey Jesus. A Caveat: This never means going against one's conscience. See Conscience. ) The more we trust and obey the one who is selfless love, the more we will love.
“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.” ~ 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
Recommended:
The Way: Three "Unspoken Sermons" by the man who inspired C S Lewis
“It needs a clean heart to have pure hands, all the power of a live soul to keep the law—a power of life, not of struggle; the strength of love, not the effort of duty.” ~ The Way by George MacDonald
Prayer by George MacDonald
The Shack (2017 Movie) Official Trailer
The Inescapable Love of God (2nd edition) by Thomas Talbott
“The Radical Gospel of Unconditional Love” in Destined for Joy by Alvin Kimel
All Things Will Be Made New (http://campuspress.yale.edu/keithderose/1129-2/)
The section “The Fatherhood of God“ in chapter one of Once Loved Always Loved: The Logic of Apokatastasis by Andrew Hronich
The Problem of Evil and The Logic of Hope
What does it mean to say that God is love?
An Open Letter to the Church Leadership